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John Barnes Finishes Ninth in Wild Boar GNCC

Palatka, FL (3/10/2018) – Polaris RZR Factory Racing John Barnes is making progress with his new Polaris RZR Turbo in the GNCC Series UXC1 Pro Turbo Class. After running in the top five for most of the race, a mechanical issue put him ninth at the most recent event the Wild Boar GNCC in Palatka, FL.

“We had done testing with the new Polaris XP turbo after the last race,” explained Barnes. “We had the Elka suspension prepared for the event. It was a brutal race. We went into the woods fifth. We made some passes, but lapped traffic slowed us down.”

Turbocharging is allowed for the first time this year in GNCC and Barnes is still in the development phase on the Polaris RZR XP Turbo. Despite rough conditions, Barnes was fast all weekend. He had a legitimate shot at a podium here before his belt overheated. Though he lost time changing it, he still recovered to finish ninth.

“You have to drive the car completely differently than the naturally aspirated car,” said Barnes. “We’re making progress and this is just another progression. It’s just a learning curve. We’re getting faster with the car. Thank goodness for the MTNTK Performance Blow Hole( Belt Blower Fan), or we wouldn’t have been able to made it to the finish. We have a lot of racing ahead so we will have time to figure it out. We’ll go back and we’ll make improvements.”

Barnes is quickly getting up to speed on the nuance of racing the new car. While it’s more powerful, the machine has to be driven with more finesse.

“You have to run these cars differently,” explained Barnes. “In the woods, you have to run at about quarter power. You’re trying to keep the turbo spooled up without going too radical on the power.”

Barnes was again running STI Roctane tires. He increased the size for this race to deal with the additional horsepower and was pleased with how the tires handled the course’s deep ruts, mud holes and flat out field sections.

In addition Barnes added, “The Superatv Rhino 2.0 axles wouldn’t break regardless what I put to it.” said Barnes. “The Millennium Technology engine and Ballistic Batteries are the best in the business. The Dynojet POD 300 is really cool as it make real time VP Fuel tune adjustments using the Trinity Exhaust. The CP Carrillo pistons never missed a beat as we threw the harsh sand filled air to it.

Though the next GNCC race is nearly a month and a half away, Barnes will be working hard to test and tune on the new ride. He will compete in an IXCR race in two weeks.

Barnes will return the GNCC Series when it heads to Society Hill, SC for the third round of UTV competition. That Camp Coker Bullet GNCC is scheduled for April 21-22.